Taylor Swift has called out Scooter Braun and toxic male privilege' while accepting the award for Woman of the Decade at the Billboard Women in Music gala in Los Angeles on Thursday night.
Swift - who turns 30 on Friday - took aim at the record executive, 38, following his acquisition of her music catalog, which occurred when he purchased Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group back in June.
Addressing the takeover whilst on stage at the gala, Swift stated: 'This just happened to me without my approval, consultation, or consent'.
'After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I'm told was funded by the Soros family, 23 Capital, and that Carlyle Group'.
She added that the acquisition of her music felt like 'the unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying music as if it's real estate—as if it's an app or a shoe line.'
Swift went on to directly address Braun, stating: 'Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it prior to the sale or even when it was announced.'
'I'm fairly certain he knew exactly how I would feel about it, though, and let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying 'but he's always been nice to me' when I'm raising valid concerns about artists and their right to own their music. And of course he's nice to you.'
She continued: 'If you're in this room, you have something he needs. The fact is that private equity enabled this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could 'buy me.' But I'm obviously not going willingly. Yet the most amazing thing was to discover that it would be the women in our industry who would have my back and show me the most vocal support at one of the most difficult times, and I will never, ever forget it. Like, ever.'
Swift went on to challenge the audience to 'stand as an example for someone else in the next generation that loves the same thing that we love.'
'No matter what else enters the conversation we will always bring it back to music. As for me, lately I've been focusing less on what they say I can't do and more on doing whatever the hell I want.'
The audience later gave Swift a standing ovation for her powerful words.
The feud between Swift and Braun has been well documented in the months since June.
In November, it was unclear whether Swift would be able to perform her back-catalog of tracks at the American Music Awards last month. Ultimately, however, it was decided that she was able to perform her hits including Love Story and Style.
The performance came after Swift was cleared to perform any of her previous hits amid all the controversy.
A statement released days before the event read: 'The Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions announce that they have come to terms on a licensing agreement that approves their artists' performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms.
'This includes the upcoming American Music Awards performances for Thomas Rhett and former Big Machine Records recording artist Taylor Swift.'
Big Machine Records' Scott Borchetta first signed Swift as a teenager, but she has been trying to purchase back the masters of her first six albums, to no avail.
When Braun bought into Big Machine, she described him as 'an incessant, manipulative bully.'
Braun's acquisition of the company also prompted Swift to announce her plans to re-record her albums originally recorded under Big Machine this coming 2020.
Before the AMAs performance, Braun revealed he had received death threats since Swift claimed he won't let her perform her back catalog - something he strongly denies.
Posting to Instagram two days before the event and tagging Swift in a lengthy statement, he also shared a screengrab of one of the threats.
He wrote: 'It is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different way .
'This morning I spoke out publicly for the first time saying I wouldn't participate in a social media war. However I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children as well as other threats.'
Taylor was definitely deserving of the esteemed honor of Woman Of The Decade after numerous sold out tours (including stadiums), chart topping albums, and encouraging her fans and other artists to stand up for themselves.
Her five albums released during this decade, between 2010 and 2019 - Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017) and Lover (2019) - were all #1 on the Billboard charts.
Among her other accomplishments include three singles that hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, plus three worldwide stadium tours and two Billboard Woman of the Year awards.
The Christmas Tree Farm singer stunned at the event as she appeared to come straight out of a love story in a navy jumpsuit with gold chains for her shoulder straps.
Not a hair was out of place as she rocked a braided pony tail and that red lip classic that has been just as iconic as her music.
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